Reid exit sends shares higher

SHARES in Leeds United, the publicly quoted football club that is at the bottom of the English Premiership three years after reaching the Champions League semi-finals, were up almost 10% yesterday following the board’s decision to replace manager Peter Reid.

The share price recovered to the 3p level after falling on Monday in the hours before the announcement of Mr Reid’s departure.

Paul Hart, manager of First Division side Nottingham Forest, became odds-on favourite in the race to succeed Mr Reid, as punters backed him from 2/1 to 4/7 with bookmaker Paddy Power. Former Leeds player Eddie Gray, who was installed as caretaker manager on Monday, was quoted at 9/2 second favourite for the job.

Investor confidence appeared to be restored by this week’s developments, following Leeds’ fifth straight defeat at the weekend that left them with their worst start to a season in the top flight for over 20 years. The team has won just two games so far this season.

The club announced pre-tax losses of almost £50m (34m ) last month, which was a record for a British football club, and currently has net debt of approximately £78m. Relegation from the Premiership would compound the club’s financial problems by causing it to miss out on around £20m in revenue, according to John McKenzie, Leeds’s chairman. George Graham, a former manager at Leeds, told Sky Sports that relegation would be “the death of the club.”